QUESTION.When, by whom and how were
you ordained a minister of the Gospel?

Answer.Before answering this question,
I would call attention to the Scriptural
teaching on the subject of ordination.
From what we believe to be the Bible
standpoint, there are two ordinations
proper.
One is of God; one of men.
The
ordination of God is the begetting of the
Holy Spirit.
Without this no one is authorized
to preach the Gospel.
If any are preaching without
this ordination they are, to our understanding, preaching
without Divine ordination.
They are doing something
that they are not authorized to do.

Our Lord told how He was ordained to be a preacher;
and the Scriptures tell us that we are to walk in His steps
and to have experiences similar to His own in many respects.
As ministers of the Cross, we are to copy our
Lord Jesus Christ as fully as we are able to do.
But He
was perfect, and we are imperfect.
Consequently we are
to have the forgiveness of our sins, while he had no sins.
He, therefore, constitutes the basis of forgiveness of all
who come unto the Father through faith in His blood.
He mentions His own ordination, saying, "The Spirit of
the Lord is upon Me; because He hath anointed Me to
preach good tidings to the meek." (Isaiah 61:1.)
As
that ordination came upon Jesus, it still later came upon
the disciples at Pentecost; and all down the Gospel Age
it has come upon the followers of Christ, anointing them to preach the Gospel.Luke 4:17-21; 1 John
2:27.

All who have received the ordination of God have the
authority to preach according to their opportunities and
abilities.
Some of them may be deaf mutes and cannot
preach audibly.
Others may be limited by sex; sisters
cannot preach as do the brethren; but they can preach,
nevertheless, in "showing forth the praises of Him who
hath called them out of darkness into His marvelous
light." (1 Peter 2:9.)
Moreover, they are fully ordained
to make known the good tidings, but, according to
the Apostle Paul's statement, not in a public way.
There
are some men who cannot preach publicly on account of
lack of talent or opportunity, but all men, by their lives
and conversation, can proclaim the glory and honor of
the great and loving God who lifted them out of darkness
into light, out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and
placed their feet upon a Rock and established their goings.Psalm 40:2.

There comes, however, another special ordination of
those who are called ministers of the Gospel, in which
class I count myself.
This is ordination by the Church,
and is recognized by all denominations everywhere.
By
some it is considered a mere form, by some it is performed
with great ceremony, by others with less ceremony.
But to our understanding, each congregation
should have those whom it has chosen ordained in a
Scriptural wayby the stretching forth of handsby a
vote.

The form of the statement in Acts 14:23, with other
frequent references to elders in connection with all
churches, justifies the inference that ordination was the invariable custom in the early Church.
The term "elders,"
as seen in this text, includes evangelists, pastors, teachers,
and prophetspublic exponents.
Hence it is important
that we learn what is meant by the word "ordained."

At the present time the word ordination is generally
used in reference to a ceremony of installation; but this
is not the significance of the Greek word cheirotoneo, used in this text.
It means "to elect by stretching out the
hand," still the usual form of voting.
This definition is
given in Professor Young's "Analytical Concordance to
the Bible."
As this may be considered a Presbyterian
authority, we give also the definition set forth in Strong's
"Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible," which may be
considered a Methodist authority.
The latter defines the root of the word"A hand-reacher, or voter (by raising
the hand)."

The Scriptural method of ordaining elders in all the
churches is by congregational electionby stretching
forth the hand in a vote.
To insist upon such an election
before serving is to follow Scriptural order; it fortifies
the elder, and, additionally, reminds the congregation of
its duties and responsibilities as appointees of the elders
in the Lord's name and Spiritas expressing God's
choice, God's will.
Additionally, the Scriptural arrangement
interests the members of the congregation in all the
words and deeds of the elders, as their servants and representatives.
It opposes the too prevalent idea that the
elders own and rule the congregation, and puts an end
to their thinking of them as "my people"rather than as
"the Lord's people, whom I serve."

Whoever has not been ordained in these two ways is
not an ordained minister of the Gospel in the Scriptural
sense.
First, the Divine ordination is necessary; second,
the earthly ordination is necessary.
By the grace of God
I have both of these.

In the case of those who are doing a public work in
the name of the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY,
they are ordained as a whole.
They are sent forth
by the officers of the Society; and as a majority of the
classes everywhere are recognized by the Society, and
as they in turn recognize the Society, they therefore
recognize this ordination through the Society.



Question.Where did the Society get the authority
for sending out preachers?

Answer.It gets its authority primarily from the
Lord, who authorizes all His people, who receive the
Holy Spirit, to go forth.
Secondly, the Society is a
business organization for religious work in the service
of the Lord, by printing books, pamphlets, charts, etc.,
and by sending out its representatives to preachby
word of mouth and by printed page.
This is its only business.
It is acting in the same way as did the Church at
Antioch, who especially chose Paul and Barnabas to do a
missionary work, and who voted these to be representatives of that Church.Acts 13:2,3.

When Paul and Barnabas went forth, they did not
say, "We preach in our own name."
They would have
had a right to go in the name of the Lord and preach;
but, in addition, they had the financial backing, we understand,
of the Antioch congregation, just as today our
representatives have the backing of the Society.
When
they go to a place, they can say, "Here is a letter which
shows that we are acting for the Society."
So they do
not go simply in the name of Christ, but they go as representatives
of this Society, which is known to be doing
an evangelizing work.

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Question.As to the name of the Association: Is it
the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY? or the

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION?

Answer.It is both. They are virtually the same
thing.
The INTERNATIONAL BIBLE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION,
the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY and
the PEOPLES PULPIT ASSOCIATION are in many respects
identical.
Why have three names? For the same reason
that there are in the various churches different Societiesthe Home Missionary Society, the Christian Endeavor
Society and the Epworth League, etc., etc.
Are they not
all doing the same work and trying to help people to live
a Christian life, etc.? Yes.
Why have different Societies?
For the reason that each has a different branch
of the work to which to attend.

So it is with us.
The parent Association is the
WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, chartered
under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania.
Its purpose
is to publish the Truth, to send forth missionaries, etc.,
etc.
The property that was necessary to transact business,
etc., was in its name; for no other was necessary in
the State of Pennsylvania.

When we moved here to New York, we were informed
that the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY could
not hold title to property here.
We were told, "You
can do business in a personal way, but not as a Society. So if you want to do any business here, you must be
chartered as an Association."
"Very well, then," we
said, "we will organize the PEOPLES PULPIT ASSOCIATION."
This is merely another name for the WATCH TOWER
BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, for New York business.

Later on, in Great Britain, we were informed, "Your
American Charter does not count for anything here."
Consequently we took out a Charter there for the INTERNATIONAL
BIBLE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION.
This reads
practically the same as the Charter of the WATCH TOWER
BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY.

These three different Societies were made necessary
by the law of different states and countries.
For some
things the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY is
the preferable name.
It is the parent Society and the one
to which contributions are made.
Whoever makes a
donation is expected, if he will, to make it in the name of
the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY.

The PEOPLES PULPIT ASSOCIATION is the only one of
the three that can do business here in New York, and the
WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY deals with the
PEOPLES PULPIT ASSOCIATION as though they were two
independent organizations.
Nevertheless they are the
samejust as with the different Societies of the nominal
churches, which would have, perhaps, the same treasurer.

Thus the whole management is by the WATCH TOWER
BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, and these auxiliary organizations
merely help in carrying on its work.
We sometimes
use one name and sometimes another, just as any one
would have the right to use any names appropriate to his
work.
It is equally appropriate to say that we are the
INTERNATIONAL BIBLE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION.
We are
Bible students, and are helping Bible students in all parts
of the world, by the printed page, by financial assistance
and in other ways.
It is also appropriate to use the name
PEOPLES PULPIT ASSOCIATION in connection with persons
who are engaged in preaching and are acting under guidance
of the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY.

In other words, the PEOPLES PULPIT ASSOCIATION cannot
transact business except through the WATCH TOWER
BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY.
The WATCH TOWER BIBLE
AND TRACT SOCIETY has the management, and the
PEOPLES PULPIT ASSOCIATION does the workabsolutely.

The INTERNATIONAL BIBLE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION
has no legal status except in Great Britain; the PEOPLES
PULPIT ASSOCIATION has none except in New York State.

We keep the "WATCH TOWER" prominent in letterheads,
etc., so that the friends would not misunderstand
us and think that the "WATCH TOWER" has gone out of
the work.
We use one name or another, as would seem
to be most convenient in the work.
For instance, we
now have on the title page of the STUDIES IN THE
SCRIPTURES the name INTERNATIONAL BIBLE STUDENTS
ASSOCIATION, instead of WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT
SOCIETY, as formerly.
Here we have a distinctive name,
different from others.
There are Bible Teachers Associations,
Tract Societies, etc., etc.; but here we have a
name especially appropriate to put on our publications, [R5808 : page 360] because it represents exactly the thought which we desire
to express.

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Question.From what School of Theology were you
graduated?

Answer.I am still in the School of Christ and have
not yet been graduated.
We get our theology from the
BIBLE.
Some of our friends have taken their theology
otherwise, have taken it from human instructors, and
have afterwards found that they had wasted their time.
Some things which they were taught were Scriptural, and
some things were sectarian. We are simply trying to find
out what the BIBLE teaches.
As the Apostle Paul said to
Timothy, so we desire to do: "Study to show thyself
approved unto GOD, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth."2 Timothy 2:15.

The Apostle did not tell Timothy to go to some
Theological School, or tell him which would be the proper
one to attend if he wished to get confused.
He merely
told the young man to rightly divide the WORD OF TRUTHto see which portions refer to Natural Israel and which
refer to Spiritual Israel; which are earthly promises, belonging
to the natural man, and which are spiritual promises,
belonging to the Christian; which belong to the present time, and which to the future.

Some of our number have been graduated from a
theological seminary.
At the time of their graduation
they thought that their school was the best there was.
But since they entered into the School of Christ, they
find that really they would have been much better off if
they had not gone to the seminary at all; for it took many
months and years to get out of their heads the errors
which were there drilled in.



Question.How should we understand the Apostle's
advice to Timothy to "Lay hands suddenly on no man"?
Does not this imply a formal ordination?

Answer.The Apostle Paul's words to Timothy might
be variously understood.
If we should read in tomorrow
morning's paper that some one suddenly laid hands on a
man we would understand that he had been assaulted.
We are to remember that this is not the way the expression
would be understood in the Greek, but that the translators
gave us what they thought the proper meaning.
The early Church had a ceremony of formally laying
hands on the heads of their elders, deacons, etc.
When
the Apostles did this, it was the indication of the impartation
of the Holy Spirit.
None but the Apostles
could bestow this.
The Churches may have had some
custom amongst themselves in the way of appointing
ministers, however, that in thus doing they might indicate
that they approved of such persons.

There would be nothing improper in a similar ceremony,
if a Pilgrim were sent forth by the WATCH TOWER
BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY for a special service of some
kind.
The officers of the Society might step forward,
lay their hands on the Pilgrim's head and say, "You are
the representative of the Society."
The priests in olden
time laid their hands upon the head of the animal that
was to be offeredto show that it represented them.
So some one might be sent forth by the Society; but a
ceremonial laying on of hands would be merely an appeal
to the eye, carrying with it no other authority than the
words, "You are appointed for such and such service," etc.

This leaves each little company of the Lord's people
to use whatever ceremony they choose.
Episcopalians and
Catholics use a great deal of ceremony; other denominations
use less.
We believe that we also have the right to
use as much or as little ceremony as we choose.
The
meaning of the word ordination is to authorize.
True
ordination is, first, of the Holy Spirit; second, of the association
sending forth its servant with the Gospel Message.